Love Pugs Day 2012
On Sunday 12th of February 2012, the 3rd Annual ‘Love Pugs Day’ was held at Walkhaven Dog Park in Johannesburg. The event, which is organised by Johannesburg based NPO Judd and Clawds’ Helping Hands, was a resounding success and a fun day in the sun for humans and dogs alike.
Most importantly, it attracted over 700 dog lovers to the park and raised a record amount of funds (compared to the previous 2 years) for this years chosen beneficiary – Wetnose Animal Shelter.
The day was choc a block with things to do and see – we had a jumping castle and face painting to keep the children busy as well as many stands selling doggy as well as human goodies for those who like to shop. Wagtail set up a gazebo and gave demonstrations in their speciality ‘K9 Yoga’ and doggy massages – this was something which captured the interest of guests as almost no one has ever seen or heard of such a thing! With your doggy doing yoga with you, there are no more excuses for skipping your workouts!
The highlight of the day was the ‘doggy wedding ceremonies’ competition. We set a romantic scene with hearts and flowers and our doggy grooms looked the part in their bow ties next to the lovely doggy brides with their flowing white veils. People crowded around the wedding scenes, oohing and aahing over the blushing couples as proud ‘parents’ looked on. Of course not all of them had a choice and our little pug-Chihuahua cross didn’t look too enamoured about her new husband Gizmo (Sorry Lola!). If it weren’t for someone doing their business on the pug-podium, the weddings would have gone off perfectly but alas, dogs will be dogs and that’s why we love them. Professional photos were taken of all the contestants and the winner of ‘best couple’ will be judged on the Helping Hands facebook group.
Raffles played a bit part in the day and since we had so many amazing prizes – it ended up being quite the competitive event with happy and disappointed faces alike as we called out the winning numbers at the end of the day. The prizes were generously sponsored by Rogz, Petsure, Complete Pet, Montego, Alicatbodyfun and Cresta Hotels (who sponsored the ultimate prize that everyone was vying for – a weekend getaway to one of their luxury hotels in Bostwana!). Snack baskets were provided by Walkhaven and those who were not running after their excitable hounds could be seen languidly enjoying a picnic on the grass over a civilised glass of wine or two.
Love Pugs Day 2012 was the third of its kind and one of many events in which we enjoyed the support of over a hundred people. This year our beneficiary was Wet Nose Animal Rescue Centre, a registered ‘right to life’ animal rescue organisation located just outside Rayton, east of Pretoria. Wetnose is currently home to over two hundred rescued animals and our hope for the event was not just to raise funds, but to generate awareness for this unbelievable organisation that gives all these abandoned and lost animals a second chance at life.
Without the combined efforts of Jade Ollis, Stephen Leinberger, Claudia and Judd Sherrin, Melinda Van Blerk and Kevin Roberts this event would not have been the success that it was, and we felt so privileged to have been able to provide for Wetnose the support that we have. We hope to achieve the same if not better successes in future and hope to see you all there, please support us: for Pugs’ sake!
– Written by Jade Ollis
